The Canadian Women’s Foundation was the first funder to open up their funding cycle for IRP 2.0 this year. In September, they announced the successful applicants for this cycle and three co-operatives were among them!
Check out their projects below:
St. James Town Community Co-op And Central Neighbourhood House
OASIS Food Hub social enterprise
The St. James Town Community Co-op’s primary focus is sustainable food security and climate change resilience. Working with the Central Neighbourhood House, the St. James Town Community Co-op’s OASIS (Organic Agro-ecological Sustainable Integrated System) Food Hub, a women-led, community food system model for marginalized communities. The OASIS Food Hub model was designed primarily by BIPOC women by and for the neighbourhood of St. James Town in Toronto. Their objectives include improving health and food security for diverse women and families in low-income communities; growing affordable, nutritious, local food year-round; creating sustainable job and enterprise opportunities for women and their families; providing community education to cultivate skills for women in climate-resilient food production and waste diversion.
Grant amount: $73,640
Location: Ontario
Home Care Workers’ Cooperative And Gateway Centre Of Excellence In Rural Health
Home Care Co-operative Development: Women Social Entrepreneurs in the Care Sector
The Home Care Workers’ Cooperative (HCWC) operates in the social wellness sector providing in-home care services for Ontario’s elder population. The HCWC is made up of personal support workers, disability support workers, and daycare providers, the majority of whom are women, many of whom are newcomers. HCWC, in coordination with the Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health, will provide educational tools, mentoring, back-office supports, and networking to empower care sector workers and create equitable working environments. The project plans to provide business services to women care workers through a Care Cooperative Incubator, where services include business and marketing plans, payroll management, invoicing, scheduling, and human resource services. Their project will support women entrepreneurs to provide care for their communities in a non-exploitative working environment in addition to building awareness of inequality in the sector.
Grant amount: $72,050
Location: Ontario
Cooperative Unime And Projet 10 / Project 10
“Buy One, Give One” – Increasing and diversifying our reach and impact
Project10, a service provider and advocacy organization for 2SLGBTQI+ youth, and Coop Unime, a non-profit cooperative focused on education, sexuality, and health, are collaborating to promote and expand Coop Unime’s six-month celebratory sex and relationship program through their app and interactive workshops, weekly resources, and supportive video calls. The project intends to take the “Buy One, Give One” (BOGO) approach with stakeholders to increase sales, expand their impact and diversify revenues for their programming, services, and training courses, while offering free participation to women, non-binary, and gender-queer people in underserved communities.
Grant amount: $74,970
Location: Quebec